Winning The First Victory

Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I’m doing. – Phil Jackson

You can always win once: be engaged and present with what you’re doing and you’ve won the first victory.

To win again, at the end, is nice, but wholly unnecessary.

For someone who is present and engaged in the game itself* then any outcome labeled as “winning” or “victory” is irrelevant – or at most, trivial.

Being there while you’re playing is winning.

*  *  *

* “Game” refers to whatever one is doing; anything from washing the dishes to pitching in the World Series.

Similar Posts

  • What Creates Us

    ‎”If you go to work on your goals, your goals will go to work on you. If you go to work on your plan, your plan will go to work on you. Whatever good things we build end up building us.” – Jim Rohn Good or bad, what we focus on and surround ourselves with…

  • Get Better, See Who Responds

    Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about un-becoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place. – Unknown Through our socialization, and because of our nature as humans, we become like those around us. We become like our families,…

  • Deadlines Produce Bad Work

    Is that a provocative enough title? Well, it’s true. So many people say they work best under deadline. They say that deadlines make them more focused, etc.. Unfortunately, they’re mistaken. Yes, deadlines often result in work activity, and usually completion, it is however, not the best one can do. If the measure is (for example):…

  • Learn to Count

    When angry count to ten before you speak. If very angry, count to one hundred. – Thomas Jefferson I love this. It reminds me of the following exchange between The Buddha and a young man: Young Man: Master how long will it take for me to achieve enlightenment? Gautama Buddha: It all depends on you…